Once Upon A Broken Heart
by wyntter rose
Summary: Hermione lost everyone in the war and ends up skipping town to avoid the memories that plague her. Until she loses her job and her apartment and has to return home. But she isn't the shy little girl that left Hogwarts anymore. Welcome home Hermione.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with JK Rowling or the Harry Potter fandom. I am writing this story simply for fun, although it would be nice to be able to own Sevvy. :]_

A/N: Hello there all.This is a reposting of a story that I wrote a few years ago and never bothered to finish. I am going to try and finish it this time around, and I've already started adding a new chapter. I have a problem with getting bored easily with stories so I'm sorry for anyone reading my other stories, but this is the only one I'm going to be working on until it's finished. I've updated the story a bit so it doesn't really sound like a three year old wrote it and I hope that you'll like it. Your reviews will be what lets me know and keeps me writing. Also, as a side note, this story is not DH compliant. I'm pretty sure I started writing this before DH was even out, so I didn't know anything about what happened in the war. Happy reading.

**Prologue**

"Now really Miss Granger, I don't think this is the smartest thing for you to do." Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, exclaimed. "You are too smart to let your schooling go to waste like this."

"Professor, I appreciate what you are trying to do, really I do. But I'm not letting my education go to waste. Nor am I giving up on it. I am simply taking it somewhere else. I can't stay here any longer, Professor," Hermione said as she took a deep breath.

Over the summer the war with Voldemort had been full-fledged. Too much blood was shed, and some of her best friends were killed. Walking around school now, without Harry, Ron or even Neville, killed her inside. She no longer felt the joy that she always had at the thought of waking up for classes, or even for studying. Not because she didn't still feel the same way about school, but because of the memories that were brought to the front of her mind while she walked around the halls of the castle that had been her home since she was eleven. She needed to go somewhere else that didn't remind her of how much she had lost.

"Hermione," Minerva started, tears coming to her eyes, "We were all very much affected by the war, I don't think it fair that you are to leave when everyone needs each other the most."

But Hermione wasn't only leaving because she couldn't stand to be around those who had been fighting alongside her while her friends died, although that was a big part of it. What Hermione couldn't deal with were the looks that everyone gave her. People looked at her in what she assumed were looks of sympathy, empathy even, but to her all they felt like were looks of pity. Pity that she wasn't the same girl she used to be. Pity that she had lost her best friends and was now basically alone in the world. Even Professor Snape had been giving her those looks since the war had ended and the death toll had been announced.

Severus Snape had never been nice to her, never truly cared for her or her feelings – she was nothing but an annoying know-it-all mudblood after all – but ever since the war, he had been throwing sympathetic glances her way. Glances that made her feel small and pathetic. Glances that made her wish that it was she who had been lost in the chaos rather than her friends.

"Maybe I will come back in a few years, when everything has settled down." She honestly doubted it, but her parents had always told her to never say 'never'. She grabbed her small tote bag and without a backwards glance strode out of the office. The office hadn't changed at all since the demise of Albus Dumbledore except to add a picture frame along the wall with his photo in it. He had been out when she'd been in the room talking to the headmistress and she was thankful for that. It would have made it so much harder had he been in there watching them speak.

She had already said goodbye to everyone she wanted to – not that there had been many of them – so she made her way down the staircase quickly, not once looking back at the office for fear of breaking down. She had barely made it into the hallway at the bottom of the stairs when she ran into the one person she hadn't wanted to see.

"Miss Granger," She took a deep breath and sighed. She hadn't wanted to run into him on her way out. She hadn't wanted to run into him because she didn't think she would be able to hold herself together. She had barely managed to hold herself together while she was speaking with Minerva. "You're leaving." It wasn't a question. He was simply stating a fact.

She slowly turned around and made eye-contact, nodding and biting her lip a bit harder than necessary. "Yes." It was the only word she could manage that he wouldn't hear the shaking in her voice.

Hermione had begun to turn around and walk away, possibly forever, but he grabbed her arm, taking her hand and kissing the knuckles. She had never seen him act so chivalrous, and especially not to the girl he had hated for the last seven years of their lives. She choked back a sob and looked away. Why could she control herself in front of the woman who had acted like a grandmother to her all these years, but couldn't control herself around the man who had made it a point to let her know just how much of a pain in the arse she was to him. "It was wonderful getting to know you throughout the years."

She tried, oh how she tried, but in the end she wasn't able to stop herself from wrapping her arms around his neck and letting the tears flow onto his shoulder. She couldn't form any words to say to him, couldn't even form words in her mind to think for that matter. All she wanted was comfort – someone or something to tell her that everything was going to be alright. She wanted someone to tell her that there was nothing anybody could do – that there was nothing else she could do. She wanted, no, she needed, someone to tell her that it wasn't her fault. Even if that someone was the only man who had even managed to make her feel stupid.

"Shh." Professor Snape patted her back awkwardly and tried to calm her. He had never been good at comforting someone. He'd never had any need to comfort someone before now. But the sight of Hermione Granger breaking down caused his heart to clench. "I will miss you." He whispered.

He couldn't think of anything that would actually calm her down. He had no idea how much she was hurting. Nobody did, contrary to what they always told her. Hermione was the one of the strongest people he had ever known, and for her to break down in his arms he knew that what she was feeling was ten times worse than what anybody else was feeling.

The raven haired man was shocked that at those four simple words her racking sobs became quieter. He could tell she was trying to dry her eyes, not wanting anyone to see that she had lost control, that she had for one second been any less than the brick wall she wanted everyone to believe she was.

He leaned back, looking into her face and felt his heart clench again. Her eyes were glossy from the tears and her face was flushed. The mixture made her eyes look large and deep, and he had to get away now before he took advantage of her weakened state. "Good luck" he told her, his voice quiet so that it wouldn't hitch at the onslaught of his own feelings. He lightly kissed her lips and stepped back. His heart ached for the poor girl.

Hermione stiffened in his arms and closed her eyes until he had stepped away from her. She had never had anyone just hold her while she let the dam of her feelings break and let the tears come rushing through. She had never been kissed so gently that even now, minutes after he had stepped away from her, she could still feel butterflies. She hadn't felt that with Viktor – he had been too clumsy – and she certainly hadn't felt that with Ron who was far too much like her brother than like her boyfriend.

She had staggered slightly when he had let her go, but she tried not to let it show. She had shown enough weakness to last her a lifetime. When she'd gotten full strength back in her legs, she looked up at the man before her and smiled. "Thank you, Professor."

She couldn't be sure if she was thanking him for helping her education along for all these years, for being there when she needed a shoulder to cry on, or for the kiss that had so obviously made her weak at the knees despite how short it was. But she knew that either way, she had the strength back again. And that strength was all she needed to walk away.

"Goodbye."


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with JK Rowling or the Harry Potter fandom. I am writing this story simply for fun, although it would be nice to be able to own Sevvy. :]_

**Chapter 1**

"Miss Granger, I'm sorry to tell you this. It really does pain me to say this," Julian Conte said to his employee. His hands were folded together on top of his desk and he was sitting in an expensive looking chair. "I'm afraid the company is cutting down on some of its branches, and your branch is being cut. I'm sorry. We are not in need of your services any longer."

Hermione couldn't catch her breath. She had been working at this company for the past 4 years and now they were throwing her out. Just like that. After all that she had done to build the company up to where it was now. She took a deep breath and then exhaled. She would deal with it just as she had dealt with everything else the world seemed to throw right into her face. Just as she would deal with the fact that she had just been given an eviction notice from her landlord.

Oh yes. Things were definitely going her way.

As she made her way out of the office, to clean out her desk, she slowly came to a realization. She had no job, nowhere to live, no money, and no friends that she could mooch off of with the excuse that she just wanted to visit. She would have to go back to England, back to the one place she didn't want to go back to, and she would have to bum off of her parents until she could find a suitable job and house/apartment.

She was _not_ looking forward to that.

----

With a pop she arrived on the street of her parents' house. Dumbledore had put up protection wards around the house so that nobody would be able to apparate directly to it, no matter which side of the war they had been on. It was for their own protection. She took off down the street with determination, planning out what she was going to say to her parents when she arrived. She only planned to stay a couple of weeks, a month at most. She didn't want to stay here. She had left for a reason.

Using the spare key that she had kept from her childhood, Hermione let herself into the house. It was just as clean as she remembered. There were pictures of her everywhere. Ones from her childhood, growing up, even a couple of her friends from Hogwarts. They were all still so that her parents never had to explain to guests why their pictures were moving and waving, but it hurt to look at them all the same.

She walked into the living room and set her stuff down. Since nobody had come running to bombard her with questions, she assumed her parents were still at work. It was just as well since she didn't honestly feel like talking to anyone. She hadn't even come up with what she was going to tell them about being back. But if she didn't want to stay here long, she should probably start looking around for a place now, or at the very least, a job.

She walked back out the front door and then down the street to the apparation point, ending up in Hogsmeade. She looked around and had to bite her tongue. It all looked exactly the same as it had the day she left. The same as it had looked before the war. _'I shouldn't have come back'_ She thought, but grudgingly made her way up to the castle at the end of the road. She hadn't seen the castle in 4 years. It still hurt to think of it, to think of the memories, think of the happiness. Breathing deeply, she forced her feet forward before she could turn around and run.

It didn't take her long to get through the gates and onto the grounds. Nobody even came up to try and stop her. Not that she would have wanted them to. She was just here for a look around, that was what she kept telling herself at least. She wanted to see how much everything, if anything, had changed since she had been one.

But no matter how long she had been gone, the inside of the castle looked exactly the same as it had when she'd left it. She had never gotten over the fact that no matter how much the world changed outside. No matter how much time passed, the castle always looked the same. As though it could transcend time. Which it no doubt could.

She started to make the trek to the Headmistress' office but stopped herself just in time. She was outside the hallway to the dungeons and could hear a riot going on down the hall and being the curious person that she had always been, she decided to take a peek. What was the worst that could happen?

Did you ever notice that whenever somebody says 'what's the worst that could happen?' something bad always follows? It was too late by the time Hermione figured that one out.

As she made her way into the dungeons, towards the classroom she knew all too well, a thought struck her. Was Snape even the Professor anymore? Had they ever moved him to Defense Against the Dark Arts? Did he even want that position anymore? She realized she knew nothing about the man who had helped to shape her education. A man who she had grown up around. A man who had given her butterflies the last time she had seen him.

When she got to the door of the Potions classroom, the din grew even louder. She couldn't even imagine what was going on inside. All she knew was that there was no way Severus Snape was still the potions professor. There was not a chance in the name of Merlin that he would have let this type of chaos go on while he was in charge. She couldn't peek into the classroom because of course the man had taken the window of the door many years before. He had always said it was too distracting to the students to know what was going on in the halls.

She turned the door handle and was promptly knocked off her feet. It had sounded like they were having a party, but what she encountered was anything but a party.

"Oh my god! Professor! Shane's potion just killed some lady." A young girl yelled over the noise. All noise ceased and Professor Snape made his way over to the door. There lay the girl who had haunted his dreams for years. He'd dreamt of the moment when she would come back into his life, back into his arms, but it hadn't been anything like this in his dreams. Something must have been terribly wrong for her to be back down in the dungeons not even five years after she had gone.

"Miss Granger?" He asked softly at first, bending over her slight form. "Miss Granger, can you hear me?" His voice was steadily growing louder to try and rouse Hermione from her bout with unconsciousness. "Hermione?"

He all but yelled her name the last time, his voice going from soft to the usual cruel voice he always used on students. It wasn't much longer before a pair of chocolate eyes were looking back at him questioningly. "Professor?" She asked. She wasn't sure that she hadn't gotten amnesia. Why would Professor Snape be bending over her trying to wake her? Had something happened that she couldn't remember? Then suddenly it all came back to her. "What happened? The last thing I remember was opening the door."

He chuckled in relief that she was alright. A sound that made everyone look around at each other to check if the potion gone wrong had affected anyone else. "A student ruined a potion and it exploded out into the room. You opened the door just as it was exploding. Are you hurt?"

She fell into herself, trying to feel if anything was wrong. Other than her heartbeat being sporadic, she didn't figure there was any permanent damage. "I'm fine." She breathed. It was unnerving to have him so close. It only reminded her of the day she left. "It sounded like there was a party going on down here, that's why I came to check it out." As though she had to make excuses for herself. "I wasn't expecting so much noise to be going on down here. You usually like complete silence."

"Well it's nice to see you again." He said grabbing her hand and helping her up. He grabbed her waist to steady her as she began to tilt to the side. Stepping down and standing straight she let out a wince. "What's wrong?" He hurriedly asked her picking her up with ease and setting her on a desk.

"It's nothing. I'll be fine." The pain was finally catching up with her and she was almost in tears over it. She didn't want to cry. Not in front of an entire potions class. The only person she had ever cried in front of was Snape other than the time she had to describe to Harry what a mudblood was. She wasn't going to change that.

"What hurts?" He asked. She knew he didn't believe her that she was okay. It made her feel tingly that he seemed to care though.

"My ankle." She confessed.

She wasn't used to admitting her pain, and even when she did very few people cared. So she was in shock, and stiffened her body when he grabbed her ankle and began rubbing it. "Tell me when it hurts." Hurt? She could barely breathe, let alone feel pain. That is, until he pressed the spot where she seemed to have landed on it wrong. She winced, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.

He looked up at her and nodded. He muttered a spell after he pulled his wand out of his robes and then sighed. "It's going to be fine. You just twisted it a little. It is going to hurt though, do you want me to get you a potion to help ease the pain? That way you won't have to go through the trouble of Poppy making you stay in the hospital bed for days on end?" He grinned a bit as if it were some inside joke. And she supposed it was in a way.

She nodded. He walked away to get the potion and came back a few minutes later. "I only have enough for a day, so you'll have to come back later after I've made some more." He said. "Is that alright?"

She nodded again and smiled. "Thank you, Professor. You've always been there for me." She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and then kissed him on the cheek. She grabbed the potion, swallowing it in one gulp and then got off the desk, hobbling towards the door. "It was nice to see all of you." She said, waving to the class.

"Is that you're girlfriend?" A boy in class that was near him asked after Hermione had retreated. Snape glared at the boy, but the boy didn't budge. "She's really pretty." He offered.

Snape couldn't argue. She had really grown up in the last four years. He had thought she was pretty when she was 17, but compared to that, she was beautiful now. Her mousy brown hair that had always been a frizzy mess, had been straightened and shined whenever she moved. Her eyes were still large chocolate pools with extra long lashes. She had full lips that were naturally tinted to a perfect color that matched with her skin, which had become tanner over the years. She hadn't been wearing jeans and a jacket this time, unlike the many times he could remember seeing her in the past. She had been wearing a pin-striped skirt that reached her knees and hung to her curves. The black blouse she had been wearing left little to the imagination. Her heels had made her look like a graceful gazelle, even after falling on her butt and having to hobble out of the classroom like a peg-legged pirate.

She looked the perfect business woman, He concluded. He wondered what she was doing back at Hogwarts. He was sure he wouldn't be seeing her for quite a number of years, if ever again.

When Hermione got out into the hallways closest to the Great Hall, she leaned against a wall and took a couple deep breaths. She had almost died, her heart having just about stopped when she heard the sweet sound of Professor Snape chuckling. It gave her chills even now.

To think, not only could be the man be sweet and caring, but he could laugh, and make jokes. It was enough to give anyone a heart attack really. Harry and Ron would have been rolling in their graves if they'd known what the man could actually be like.

After her breathing had evened out, she started making her way towards the Headmistress' office, the potion finally kicking in so she could walk normally and stop hobbling around.

"Miss Granger it is such a pleasant surprise to see you here." Professor McGonagall said, resisting the urge to run over and hug the girl. "If I may inquire, why is it you decided to come back?"

Hermione squared her shoulders as if she had been waiting for this question. "I was laid-off from my previous job and I was evicted from my apartment. I was wondering if you knew of anyone who was hiring." She had a purpose and she wasn't about to let anyone stop her. "I'm also looking for an apartment, so if you know any place that is renting out it would be a huge help."

Professor McGonagall shook her head. "The only place I know of is Professor Snape's house. He is looking for someone to live there and take care of it while he is here at school. As it is he can only get there about once a month." Minerva didn't see why Severus didn't just sell the place. He lived at the school year round anyway. "As for jobs, the only one I can think of is again with Professor Snape. He is looking for an apprentice. Someone to help him with his classes as some of them seem to have too many children for him to manage at one time." She smiled ruefully. "I'm afraid I don't get out much anymore. Not like Albus used to."

Hermione smiled at the older woman. The woman had acted almost as a grandmother to her for numerous years and she had truly missed her. "Thank you. Maybe I will look around Hogsmeade." She would ask Snape what requirements he had later.

"Don't be a stranger, dear." McGonagall said as Hermione stepped out to the staircase. Hermione nodded and made her way back down to the dungeons. Classes were just letting out so she got a few wolf whistles as she passed a group of 5th years from Ravenclaw. She smiled to herself. It felt good to have someone think she was whistle worthy, even if they were nearly ten years younger than she was.

Professor Snape's next class was just starting as she walked in and sat in the back row. "10 points from Gryffindor." He said with his back to the class as he wrote the steps on the board. He had always known when Hermione walked into class. It was second nature to him. The sound of multiple sighs caught his attention. Wait a minute. Hermione didn't even go here anymore. He looked to the back of the classroom.

"Now Professor, I hardly think that's fair." She smirked from the seat she had taken next to the slowest person in the classroom. It was like Neville Longbottom all over again.

"Miss Granger, are you questioning me?" He asked and several students gasped. Over the years the students had learned not to mess with him. He wondered what had happened.

He had heard rumors about why he was such a moody person. Some said he was attacked by something monstrous and felt the need to punish everybody else, which was close enough to the truth he supposed. Another said he was deprived of any action in bed and had too much built up sexual tension. Yet another was that his lover had left him at the altar and he had no reason to live so he chose to be miserable from that day forth. The last made him laugh. He had never even been close to going to the altar. Nobody had ever meant enough.

"Why actually, yes, I think I am." Hermione smirked again. "You see… I haven't been in school for a couple years… so I don't think it fair that the current Gryffindors have to deal with losing points because of something I did." The other students kept looking back and forth between Professor Snape and Hermione.

"You disrupted my class. Someone has to pay." He sucked in a quick breath as Hermione got up and started walking to the front of the class.

"Well could you hurry up and tell them the instructions? I have a question or two to ask you. And then you can inform me what my punishment will be for disrupting." She sat on his desk, facing the class and crossed her leg over the other. She looked incredibly feminine sitting there and it made him ache in a way he had never ached before, not even with Lily.

"Read the board" he told the class quickly. "And no talking" he said, but to no avail. The class had already started murmuring to themselves – no doubt about what kind of relationship he and Hermione had. He walked over to her and sighed. "What can I do for you, Miss Granger?"

"Long story short, I need somewhere to live, and I need a job. I'm not asking you for both. I'm not that greedy. I was wondering though," She started, "Minerva said you had a house you were looking to rent out. How much would that be? She also said that you were looking for an apprentice of sorts… what would that require?"

"The house is a simple two bedroom, one bath. I was only looking to rent it out for a thousand. I'm a cheap guy. I just want someone for the upkeep. The apprenticeship requires either for you to have graduated with extremely good marks on your NEWTS or for me to know you and know how well you work with potions and with children" he said, still standing. "Which would you prefer? Either is open to you. Though, I must inform you that if you worked as my apprentice I would have to ask that you stay in the castle. It would be easier for you than having to make the trek every morning and evening. And it is a bit of a trek from the house to the apparation point."

"Where in the castle would I stay?" she asked. She was seriously considering taking him up on the offer. "And how much would it pay? I do need some money."

"You would stay in my quarters. Not my bedroom, but I can have a guest room added or I could take the couch in the living room and give you the bedroom. It doesn't matter to me." He turned to survey the class for a minute before turning back to her. "The pay isn't all that great if you work here at Hogwarts. Apparently we are supposed to get joy out of helping others, not getting money. But if you worked for me, I would match whatever your old job was paying you."

"How would you find the money? I assure you, Professor, I was a valuable employee in America."

"I have a large inheritance from my parents." He assured her. "The money isn't a problem."

"Would you mind then if I were to become your apprentice? I do honestly need the money. You could deduct some pay to reimburse yourself since I would be taking over your living quarters."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind." He wondered when his heart had started softening. Or was it only for her? He couldn't be sure. But he was worried. No woman had ever made him feel like butterflies were flying around in the pit of his stomach. He felt nauseous, but in a good way. It was impossible to explain. He hated things that he couldn't explain.

"I'll go tell Minerva." Hermione practically bounced out of the classroom. Then she turned back at the door, and blew him a kiss and smiled, knowing full well that every pair of eyes in the classroom was on her. "Thanks, Sevvy."


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with JK Rowling or the Harry Potter fandom. I am writing this story simply for fun, although it would be nice to be able to own Sevvy. :]_

**Chapter 2**

Hermione laughed to herself as she thought of the look that Severus had on his face just as she left the classroom. It was a mix of shock, terror, fatigue, and something else.. desire almost. But who was she kidding. Snape didn't desire anything except to have Slytherin win the House Cup every year.

"Ah Miss Granger! Good to see you so soon. What can I help you with?" Minerva asked and Hermione couldn't help but smile as she looked at the older woman.

"Professor Snape said that I could take the job as his apprentice. I just thought I should tell you since I would be spending all my time in the castle now."

"Oh good. The students will be glad to find out that there will be someone to save them from Severus' wrath." The older woman chuckled. Snape had never been a truly happy person. She had never seen him with a smile on his face. Not a true one that reached to his eyes at least.

"Well I should go get my stuff from my parents' house. I will most likely be back in time for dinner." Then she walked out and headed towards the castle grounds.

When she got home, to find that her parents were still at work, she grabbed her stuff and headed for the door. Better to not let them know she was even there.

------

"Professor, who was that woman who was in here before?" One of the students asked. He gave them a long look before answering. No doubt it would be all over the school by dinner.

"She's going to help me out around the classroom. Her name is Hermione Granger."

The child gasped, as did others in the room. "Hermione Granger? The one who was best friends with Harry Potter?"

"The one and only." Hermione had just walked back into the classroom with her stuff hanging off her shoulder. "Professor, where can I put my stuff?"

"Just set it off in a corner for right now. I'll take you to the quarters later." He replied. She smiled and nodded, taking a seat on top of his desk again. He didn't mind. It wasn't as if he sat at the desk during class much anyway. He was usually circling the classroom, watching the students make mistakes.

Hermione put a hand to her eye and started rubbing it gently. "Is something wrong?" Snape asked coming closer.

She shook her head. "My vision is kind of blurry. But it's nothing."

"The last time you said it was nothing, you had twisted your ankle, the time before that I'm pretty sure you had a cut along your entire side. I don't trust you when you say 'it's nothing'." Snape smirked. She was shocked. He remembered what had happened to her during the war? Of course he was the one that had healed her. He was also the one that had hit her with the spell. She still had a nasty scar from it.

"As I recall, the cut along my side was your fault." She said smirking.

Snape raised his eyebrows and then lowered them into a glare. "Well if you hadn't been in the way…"

"Well if you didn't go around making up your own spells…"

"Maybe you should lose some weight and then you wouldn't be in my way when I was sending out spells." The silence in the classroom was deafening.

Hermione got off the desk and stalked out of the classroom. Why did she always feel the need to cry in front of him? He had commented on her weight. She hated that. She had never been the type of girl that could wear size negative 12 or whatever the other girls wore. She had always been a tad bigger. But she had spent a lot of time and energy over the last few years trying to lose some weight. She had thought she was doing a good job. Other people seemed to think she looked okay. Why did his opinion matter so much? She didn't even like him. He was the man that had constantly made fun of her since she was 11. But she did care. And she didn't know why.

Severus winced as he watched her walk out of the room. He had never meant for anything that harsh to come out. It wasn't as if she needed to lose weight. She was beautiful as she was. He had a feeling that if she lost anymore weight then she would have too many straight edges. Like himself. He liked the roundness of her, in all the right spots that made her look deliciously woman.

The students looked at Snape in disbelief. They all knew he was cruel and heartless to them, but they thought he would have more respect for someone that was going to be working and living with him. Apparently they had overestimated him. The only thing that saved him from everyone walking up and cursing him was that he looked extremely guilty right after he said it – as though he hadn't actually meant it.

Hermione sat up in the astronomy tower and curled into a ball. It was colder up here than anywhere else in the school. Except for in Snape's classroom. The atmosphere had grown decidedly colder as she left. A tear slid from her eye as she was finally left to think about where she was. Dumbledore had died right where she was sitting. Snape had been the one to kill him. But then, she couldn't blame him. Dumbledore had asked him to. Like a final wish, only, more complicated.

She sat there thinking for a long while before stretching out and laying down, falling asleep shortly after. It was peaceful here. It always had been.

-----

"Granger?" Snape asked from the bottom of the stairs. He didn't want to scare her when he made the journey up there. She didn't answer so he walked up the stairs, one at a time.

Hermione looked almost peaceful as he saw her lying on the cold concrete of the tower's floor. He circled her, so he could see her face, and discovered that her lips had turned a slight shade of purple. Her eyelids also had a distinct purple hue to them and he had to lean down next to her and feel for her pulse. It had slowed considerably from what it was supposed to be.

"Hermione?" He couldn't seem to rouse her. She was going to freeze to death if he didn't hurry. "Hermione, wake up." She slumbered on. He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and carried her down to his quarters. She was shivering, but at least she was getting a normal color back into her lips.

His quarters were considerably warmer than any other part of the dungeons. He had made it that way. He hadn't wanted to freeze to death while sleeping. Though, he supposed, that would be an alright way to go. As long as he wasn't awake while it was happening.

He put a blanket over Hermione, a couple blankets actually, and put her on his bed. He would take the couch for tonight. Or a chair at the very least. He wasn't about to let her sleep anywhere other than the bed and he knew for a fact that, despite what muggles said about body contact being a good warming agent, Hermione was not about to allow him to sleep in the bed with her.

Sometime during the night she awoke, the darkness playing tricks on her mind. She couldn't figure out where she was no matter how much she looked around. She had obviously never been there before, at any point in her life. Surely she would have remembered.

She got up and walked out of the bedroom, leaving the comfort and warmth of the large and fluffy bed. Very few places had ever been as comfortable. Snape's arms were one. But she wouldn't admit that to anyone, not even herself.

She made her way through the door and into what she assumed was the common room and glanced around. She found a big arm chair over by a fireplace, the back to her. Walking over to it, she found Snape, a book in his lap, his head falling down onto his chest as he slumbered on. She smiled and shook her head softly. He looked so peaceful. Like a normal, _nice_, person. Too bad she knew better. He mumbled in his sleep and she giggled quietly so as not to rouse him.

"Don't die. Please don't die." His mumbling was louder so she could understand what he was saying. He wasn't dreaming as she had thought. He was having a nightmare. A horrid nightmare, she assumed by the cold sweat he had broken into. She wanted to wake him, but people said nightmares don't end unless you let them play out. She would just let his play out. Then he wouldn't have to be plagued by it anymore. She hoped.

She took a seat in front of him on the hearth and watched him sleep before her eyes drifted shut.

"_Hermione, watch out!" Ginny Weasley screamed as a flash hit Hermione in the back. She didn't feel anything at first. A couple minutes later, her knees buckled._

_The pain was the most intense thing she had ever felt. Her chest tightened and she clutched at her side. She couldn't figure out what had happened._

"_Oh bullocks. Hermione." A deep voice and the sound of footsteps pounding against earth cut through the silence her head was falling into. "Bloody --. Miss Granger, can you hear me?" She couldn't answer. She wanted to, but her throat wasn't working. She couldn't even get her mouth to work right. She kept telling it to open and close, to move her tongue against her teeth or the roof of her mouth to form words to answer back the deep and velvety voice. But nothing was working. No matter how hard she told her brain to work, nothing was working._

"_Don't die. Please don't die." The person put her head on his lap and sat rocking. He kept saying a bunch of spells to try and stop the pain. She reached down and touched her side, lifting her hand back up, seeing it covered in a dark, sticky liquid, she felt nauseous. _

"_You murderer!" She heard Ginny yell the words. "You're nothing but a cold-blooded murderer!"_

_A growl erupted deep from the throat of the one holding her. "I would never physically hurt her on purpose. She was in the way of the spell shot towards Lucius. He was about to hit her with the killing curse, I was trying to help her." She felt a teardrop hit her chest where her shirt had ripped open. "I never do anything right."_

_Just as Ginny opened her mouth to say something, no doubt to tell him to stop feeling sorry for himself because he was sounding rather pathetic, a green blast of light blinded Hermione momentarily. Seconds later another blast of green light blinded her and she heard the soft voice whisper to her, "Don't worry Hermione. Lucius wont be able to bother you anymore." The pain was subsiding, or maybe she was just losing consciousness. "You're going to be okay."_

Hermione woke up in a cold sweat. She vaguely remembered the dream. It wasn't really a dream, more a nightmare. A memory. "Good morning." Snape grunted. He had watched her sleep, breaking into a cold sweat and gasping for breath. His heart ached for her, just as it had during the war when she had lost everyone.

"I don't know if good if the right word." She smiled though, despite herself. "So when do I start my new job?"

"This morning alright with you?" he asked, getting up and going into his private bathroom. When he came out he was clean looking and he had changed clothes.

"Your hair isn't greasy." She sounded almost in awe, but at least had the decency to blush at the words that had tumbled out.

He shook his head and smiled. "I can't turn into a bat either. Actually, being around potions all day makes my hair look greasy. There are spells to make your hair unable to change from the chemicals, but I have a reputation as a greasy bat to uphold."

"We'll see how much you're able to uphold your reputation while I'm around." She got up and walked into the bathroom. "See you in class."

She still wasn't out by the time classes started for the day. He began to wonder if maybe she had slipped down the drain.

She walked in, 20 minutes after class began, her hair looking straight, shiny, soft. Her eyes were lined by a light black liner and her lips were covered in a sheer gloss. "I'm going to the kitchens. Do you want anything?" He was glad he was at the back of the class. If the 1st years in the class heard her they would all ask that she bring back food for them.

"No. But thank you." He watched her walk down the hall and then made his way to the front.

Soon, Hermione was back, having eaten, and she made her way to the front of the class. "What can I do?" She asked.

"Nothing right now. Next class we'll start with a new potion. These kids are just working out of the books." Hermione nodded and watched everyone work. Mainly though, she just watched Snape. He was busy grading papers and seemed to be paying no attention to her. She couldn't understand anymore why she had ever hated him.

"Miss Granger, if you would please stop staring at me that would be wonderful." He said quietly to her. Hermione again had the decency to blush and look away. He grinned to himself before going back to grading papers.

Sooner or later the class was over, the second class of the day coming in. A group of sad looking 4th years trudged in. "Before we begin today," Snape drawled, "I want to introduce you all to the woman who will be helping me deal with you heathens. Be nice to her." He gestured for Hermione to come forward.

"Alright, well I'm Hermione Granger. I graduated from school a few years back. When I went here I was…" Snape cut her off shaking his head.

"Don't tell them what house you were in. They will tease you relentlessly."

She nodded and continued. "I was in the high up classes. I had all Os on my OWLs except for one… which was an E. Unlike your full professor here, if you do something wrong, I'll take off points. I don't care what house you're in. I'm not going to play nice to anyone more so than anyone else."

The kids grinned, glad that they were going to get some equal opportunities in here for once. Merlin knew Snape never took away points from Slytherin. Maybe she could help even out the scores.


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with JK Rowling or the Harry Potter fandom. I am writing this story simply for fun, although it would be nice to be able to own Sevvy. :]_

**Chapter 3**

"Class," Snape started, "We will be doing a potion which McGonagall doesn't think you ever need to know, which of course makes me want to teach it to you." He chuckled to himself. "Today we will be making Amortentia. Can anyone tell me what that is?" He looked around the room and didn't see anyone raising their hands.

"Ooh! I can!" Hermione said as she raised her hand from behind him.

"Not you, Miss Granger."

"Oh."

Finally one girl raised her hand, "It's a love potion, sir."

"Yes. Yes it is."

"10 points to Hufflepuff." Hermione piped up.

The class smiled, well at least the Hufflepuff side. The Slytherins weren't so happy.

"Right." Snape said gruffly. "As I was saying, Amortentia is indeed a love potion. The instructions are on the board. Please begin."

The class got started and Hermione watched as Snape walked over to her. "Did you have to do that?"

"You know full-well that if Slytherin had answered that question, you would have given them points. I was just sticking up for the rest of them." She smiled. She loved annoying him.

"Well do try not to do it too often."

"I'll do it as often as I see fit."

Snape stalked away and went to peer over the students' shoulders as they were working, which only caused several of them to mess up, their cauldron exploding. Hermione shook her head and called him over.

"What do you want now?"

"You're making everyone mess up. Stop walking around."

"Well I have to see if anyone needs any help."

"If they need help, they can call for you. You don't need to make them need your help."

"Fine." He sat down at his desk, Hermione sitting on top of it, and sneered. "Would you please get off of my desk?"

"No way. It's comfy here." He sighed and started grading papers from the other class.

"Miss Granger, can you come help me please?" She got up and went to the Slytherin on the other side of the room.

"What can I help you with?"

"Oh well, I just wanted to see if I was doing it right."

"It looks right to me. Did you follow all the instructions?"

"Yep."

"Well then it should be good to go."

She walked back up to the front. Not noticing the giggling children on that side of the room as they held up a couple pieces of hair from Hermione's head. The kids weren't sure if they needed it, but just to be sure…

"Miss Granger! Professor Snape! Come quick! I need your help!" A little voice screamed from the back of the room.

Both got up and went into the back of the room to see that nothing was amiss. "What do you need?" Snape demanded.

"Nothing sir. Nothing at all."

They both turned around to notice that all the students had set up a barricade so they couldn't go anywhere. Out of nowhere, a few came over with a cauldron. "What are you doing? Go sit down." Snape barked before the cauldron was dumped over his head. He hadn't even realized what had happened until he had pulled the cauldron off of his head and was looking at Hermione, who was trying to stop herself from laughing.

"Oh my Merlin. Snape you look… like a wet rat." She giggled.

"Well, Miss Granger, I can honestly say you look," Snape started talking, not completing his sentence before the potion seemed to kick in, "absolutely ravishing."

Hermione looked at Snape like he was crazy. "Have you gone mad?"

"Yes. Mad for you, my darling."

The students just sat there laughing as they watched Snape trying to get closer to Hermione. Hermione just backed away each time though.

"Professor, maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey. I fear you may have swallowed some of the students' Amortentia."

"I feel perfectly fine, Miss Granger. There is no need to go see Poppy."

"Right. Well. Class dismissed. I have to go on some errands. I'll be back later." She quickly waved and then high-tailed it out of the room.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing out of class?" Professor McGonagall's voice rang through the halls.

"Professor, I was just going to go get Poppy. There was a slight mishap in potions today and I think it best if she takes a look."

"Right. On with it then." McGonagall gave one last stern look at Hermione's retreating back. _There is something seriously up with that child_. She couldn't help but think.

When Hermione got into the hospital wing, she was surprised, and pleased, to find that Madame Pomfrey didn't have any patients. "Madame Pomfrey, you must come see. Professor Snape has swallowed some Amortentia."

"But that potion is banned from Hogwarts."

"Does anybody really ever listen to what Filch bans?"

"No I don't suppose so. Alright. I'll take a look."

They hurried down to the dungeons and walked into the potions room. The entire class was still sitting there. Almost as if they were waiting for a second half of the show to commence.

"Now I thought I told you all class was dismissed." Hermione scolded.

"Well we still have 20 minutes left, and we figured Professor McGonagall wouldn't take too kindly to that. So we stayed." One of the students answered her.

"Alright, fine. Where is Snape?"

"Over there in the corner. I believe he is writing you a poem. Or a song."

Hermione growled under her breath and walked over to him. "Madame Pomfrey, please fix this."

Poppy stood there, reading over Snape's shoulder at what he was writing. "Now dear, don't you think it would be fun to find out what he honestly thinks of you?"

"This isn't honest, Poppy." Hermione snarled. "This is all effects of a potion."

"That's where you're wrong dear. I saw some of the potion on the floor, the students messed it up, though I don't know if it was on purpose." She laughed silently. "Either way, they didn't make Amortentia, instead they made a potion that enhances the way a person truly feels. These are his true feelings, the ones he feels inside. The ones he would never show. But they are his feelings nonetheless."

Hermione stood rooted to the spot. She didn't want to believe a word that the older woman was saying. What would she know anyway? It's not like she ever worked with potions… Hermione trailed off at the end of her thought. Who was she kidding? All Poppy ever did was work with potions.

"Now come over here and let's see what he is trying to tell you." She grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her over so that she too was reading the words that seemed to be flowing from Snape's quill.

_I shouldn't love you_

_But I want you_

_I just can't turn away_

_I shouldn't see you_

_But I can't move_

_I can't look away_

_And I don't know_

_How to be fine_

_When I'm not_

'_cause I don't know_

_How to make the feelings stop_

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the words. It almost seemed as if Snape had a heart. She laughed to herself. Of course Snape had a heart. He _was _human after all. Although, this was a shock to her.

Snape turned around as he was about to start the next line. Looking almost embarrassed that they were standing over him watching as he wrote his feelings out on paper. "Um… can I help you guys?"

Poppy stifled a giggle and turned to Hermione. "Do you want it now, or do you want him to at least finish the poem?"

Hermione blushed. "It doesn't matter."

"Alright. Then by all means Severus, please return to your writing. We will go watch the class."

Hermione and Poppy walked back to the class and Snape went back to writing the poem.

That night at dinner, everyone seemed to be buzzing about the fact that earlier in the day, Snape had been completely infatuated with the newest member to the Hogwarts staff. Luckily, Poppy had given him an antidote so he was no longer begging her to marry him. Hermione couldn't help but blush, remembering that.

"Now students and staff." Professor Flitwick stood up on the table to be heard over the din. "Before Professor Dumbledore left us, he had one wish. That wish was that the entire school had a… talent show… so to speak. If you have been a student here in the last four years then you already know this and probably had your song picked out on the very first day of school. For everyone else, the rules are simple.

"_Every_ student, and _every_ staff member, whether they be in a group or not, are to sing a single song. Groups can be no larger than 5 people. And while it is not necessary to dedicate songs to anyone, people get more points if they write their own songs to sing for the audience. The house with the most points at the end of the talent show gets an extra five hundred points awarded to their tally."

The chatter that followed this statement was disturbingly loud. "Please sign up with your song of choice by no later than next Friday. Thank you."

_Well this is going to be interesting._ Hermione thought.

_Oh Merlin. I don't know any popular songs. I suppose I could sing something old fashioned._ Snape thought.

"Oh and if your name is Severus Snape," Flitwick started saying to just the staff table, "You have to sing a song that you've written and you have no choice in the matter." All the other professors smiled and Flitwick clapped himself on the back for his quick thinking.

_Bloody fuck._ Snape pouted. He did not want to sing in front of the students, had managed to get out of it every other year by being sick on the day of the show, but he knew there was no getting out of it this year. Thanks to those bloody kids and their bloody potion that let bloody Granger know what he was bloody thinking. _How Severus, how many times can you use bloody in a sentence and have it still make sense?_ He growled at himself and cursed the students inwardly.

Then he cursed Hermione Granger inwardly. Not because she had somehow tricked the students into being stupid enough to create that potion and use it on their professor rather than their friends or their crushes, but because she had been there when it happened. She had been the cause of it happening. If she hadn't been around, the kids wouldn't have become suspicious and they wouldn't have made him blurt his true feelings, in a rather pathetic manner, in front of the whole school.

Okay maybe not the whole school, but saying those things in front of the thirty students he had in his class at that time was close enough to telling the entire school. They all knew by now anyway, whether that had seen it or not.

If only he hadn't offered to give her the job. If only she hadn't come back at all. But he knew in his heart that he didn't want that. He wanted her to be there, wanted her to have the job, wanted her to be around for him to talk to and for him to console when she needed someone. _You're going soft, old man._ But he didn't mind. Not when it came to Hermione Granger. There was something about her, something that made him want to keep her close by and protect her from all the dangers of the world.

_It's probably only because you think you owe her for nearly killing her, and for getting that Weasley girl killed. It is all your fault, you know. You were the one who ruined her life. You and you alone._


End file.
